The Ushiku great buddha

In Ibaraki prefecture not far from Tokyo to the north east, you can see a very large standing buddha statue which is the highest in Japan and the world. It is called the Ushiku great buddha. It makes the statue of liberty look small and the Great Buddha of Kamakura look tiny which can be seen in the photo below comparing the three.

Getting there by bus from Ushiku station takes about 20-30 minutes direct and the bus stops very close to the statue indeed.

I was lucky enough to see a TV show on the statue and, to highlight the size, cleaners that clean the statue on the outside actually exit from the eyes by rope to clean its face. I was totally amazed at this for the sheer size of it. After watching the TV show I had to go and see it. I was lucky enough to go at New Years Day which meant the admission was free.

The bus stop as it is dropping people off. The return bus is closer to the statue and it takes a bit longer to get back than to go there.

The buddha head is a representation of the size of the statue. The actual statue is a thousand times bigger!
The comparison of the Ushiku great buddha to the Statue of Liberty is interesting.